Luke Richardson, new coach of Chicago's NHL team, wants to create environment of trust

Luke Richardson is the new coach of Chicago's NHL team, stepping into a tricky rebuilding process for one of the league's marquee franchises.

General manager Kyle Davidson announced the move on Monday. Richardson replaces Derek King, who finished the season as the interim coach after Jeremy Colliton was fired on Nov. 6.

"Luke shares our vision and goals for the future, and he will have an opportunity to build an environment and culture of high performance, hard work and high accountability," Davidson said in a news release.

Richardson, 53, played for six teams during 21 years in the NHL, finishing with 35 goals and 201 points in 1,417 regular-season games. The defenceman was selected by Toronto with the No. 7 overall pick in the 1987 draft.

Richardson's first NHL game was at Chicago Stadium on Oct. 8, 1987, a 7-5 Maple Leafs victory.

"I am honoured to be trusted with this opportunity to coach an Original Six franchise like the Chicago Blackhawks," Richardson said in the team announcement.

"I plan to create an environment of trust with our team. With trust, relationships will form and grow, thus allowing everyone to blossom and execute their role. My philosophy is to be better today than we were yesterday and, to achieve that, we will need commitment and consistency."

Richardson retired during the 2008-09 season and joined Ottawa's coaching staff. He was the head coach for the Senators' American Hockey League affiliate from 2012 to 2016.

The Ottawa native was an assistant on Montreal's coaching staff for the previous four seasons. When Dominique Ducharme was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the 2021 playoffs, Richardson took over as coach for six games and helped lead the Canadiens to their first Stanley Cup final since